File folder with sequentially arranged envelopes

ABSTRACT

A file folder includes a reinforced receptacle, a locking mechanism to secure engagement between a cover and a body of the receptacle, a first envelope immovably received in the receptacle and multiple secondary envelopes sequentially correlated to one another and movably received inside the receptacle such that movement of a reinforced board which is securely engaged with a rearmost secondary envelope is able to pull all the secondary envelopes out of the receptacle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a file folder, and more particularly to a file folder with envelopes sequentially connected to one another.

2. Description of Related Art

A file folder normally has baffles to divide an interior of the folder into different compartments for receiving and managing files. A conventional file folder is shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. The file folder is provided with a primary pocket (7) and secondary pockets (8) detachably connected to one another and the primary pocket (7). The primary pocket (7) is provided with an opening (70), a cover (72) foldably extending from a rear side face of the primary pocket (7), two tongues (73) stamped out of a front side face of the primary pocket (7), an elastic ring (74) formed on the rear side face of the primary pocket (7), a boss (75) formed on a front face of the cover (72) and a first slit (76) defined in the front side face of the primary pocket (7).

Each of the secondary pockets (8) is connected to one another and has an opening (80), a cover (82) foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary pocket (8) and having a fixture (821) formed by stamping, two pairs of tongues (83) stamped out of a front side face of the secondary pocket (8), a slit (841) and hole (842) combination (84) defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary pocket (8) and a second slit (85) defined between the two tongues (83).

When the conventional file folder is assembled, the cover (82) of each secondary pocket (8) is received in the opening (80) of a previous secondary pocket (8) with the fixture (821) inserted into a corresponding second slit (85) of the previous secondary pocket (8). The cover (82) of the last secondary pocket (8) is then inserted into the opening (70) of the primary pocket (7) with the fixture (821) inserted into the first slit (76) of the primary pocket (7). Furthermore, the two tongues (73) of the primary pocket (7) are inserted through corresponding holes (842) and then slits (841) of the last secondary pocket (8) and the tongues (83) of each of the secondary pockets (8) are inserted into corresponding holes (842) and slits (841) of the secondary pocket (8) in the front thereof. Therefore, when the secondary pockets (8) are interconnected and the last secondary pocket (8) is detachably connected to the primary pocket (7) with the fixture (821) inserted into the first slit (76) of the primary pocket (7), the conventional file folder is ready for use.

It is noted from FIGS. 7 and 9 that after the elastic ring (74) is moved away from engagement with the boss (75), the secondary pockets (8) are sequentially dropped out of the primary pocket (7). However, due to the interconnection between the tongues (83) and the combination (84) in the secondary pockets (8) and as well as the tongues (73) in the combination (84) of the last secondary pocket (8), the secondary pockets (8) are dangled from each other. As a result, when a large quantity of paper is inserted into any one of the secondary pockets (8), the secondary pocket (8) will deform and the documents contained in the secondary pocket(s) may fall out therefrom.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved file folder to mitigate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a file folder having multiple envelopes sequentially connected to one another.

In one aspect of the present invention, the file folder of the present invention has a receptacle, a first envelope securely received in the receptacle and multiple envelopes interconnected to one another and to the first envelope and received in the receptacle.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the receptacle has a guiding slit defined in a rear side face of the receptacle and a boss formed on a rear side face of a final envelope to be received in and guided by the guiding slit such that when the envelopes as well as the first and the final envelopes are pulled out of the receptacle, a sequential arrangement of the envelopes is shown.

A further aspect of the present invention is that a locking mechanism is provided to the receptacle so that a user is able to use the locking mechanism to secure the envelopes.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the file folder of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the file folder of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a sequential arrangement of the envelopes inside the receptacle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing that the receptacle has a guiding slit and a boss is received in and guided by the guiding slit;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing that after the locking mechanism is locked, the envelopes are securely locked inside the receptacle;

FIG. 6 is an perspective view of the receptacle in an opened condition, and showing a locking mechanism of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional file folder in an opened condition;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional file folder; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing that the secondary pockets are received inside the primary pocket after the elastic ring is engaged with the boss.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is noted that the file folder in accordance with the present invention includes a receptacle (1) and envelopes respectively received in the receptacle (1). The envelopes are divided into a first envelope (2), secondary envelopes (3) and a final envelope (4).

The receptacle (1) is made of reinforced plastic and provided with an opening (10), a cover (11) foldably connected to a side face defining the opening (10) and a guiding slit (12) defined in a rear side face of the receptacle (1).

The first envelope (2) has an opening (20), a flap (21) foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope (2) and having a fixture (211) formed by stamping, and a slit and hole combination (23) defined in a rear side face of the first envelope (2).

Each of the secondary envelopes (3) has an opening (30), a flap (31) foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope (3) and having a fixture (311) formed by stamping, two tongues (32) stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope (3), a slit (33) defined between the two tongues (32) and a slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope (3). It is noted that the slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope (3) has the same configuration as that of the first envelope (2) such that the slit and hole combination of the second envelope (3) is not shown in the accompanied drawings for brevity.

The final envelope (4) has a configuration the same as each one of the secondary envelopes (3) except that a reinforced board (5) is securely engaged with the rear side face of a secondary envelope (3) and the reinforced board (5) is provided with a boss (51) formed on a bottom of the reinforced board (5) to correspond to the guiding slit (12) of the receptacle (1). Further, each of the secondary envelopes (3) is provided with an identifier (35) extending from the rear side face of the secondary envelope (3) and the reinforced board (5) is provided with an extension (52) extending from a top periphery thereof.

With reference to FIG. 3 and still taking FIG. 2 for reference, it is noted that a bottom of the first envelope (2) is securely connected to an inner bottom face of the receptacle (1). In addition, the tongues (32) of each secondary envelope (3) are received in the slit and hole combination of the previous secondary envelope (3) to accomplish correlation between two adjacent secondary envelopes (3). Also, the fixture (311) of each secondary envelope (3) is received in the slit (33) of the previous secondary envelope (3) to reinforce correlation between two adjacent secondary envelopes (3). Thereafter, because the first envelope (2) is securely connected to the inner bottom face of the receptacle (1) and then is connected to one of the second envelopes (3) which are correlated to one another, removing the reinforced board (5) by pulling the extension (52) will sequentially pull the secondary envelopes (3) out of the receptacle (1).

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is noted that when the cover (11) is opened and the secondary envelopes (3) are pulled out of the receptacle, the boss (51) is guided by the guiding slit (12) and moved to distal end of the guiding slit (12). However, after the secondary envelopes (3) are received in the receptacle (1) and the cover (11) is employed to close the opening (10) of the receptacle (1), the boss (51) is slid down to a proximal end of the guiding slit (12).

With reference to FIG. 6, it is noted that the file folder of the present invention further has a locking mechanism (6) to secure engagement between the cover (11) and the body of the receptacle. The locking mechanism (6) includes an L-shaped tongue (61), a housing (62) and a resilient member (63).

The tongue (61) has a ledge (611) extending out of the tongue (61) and having a locking hole (612) defined through the ledge (611). The housing (62) is provided with a through hole (621) to correspond to the ledge (611) of the tongue (61) and two stops (622) respectively formed on two opposed sides inside the housing (62). The resilient member (63) is provided with a finger (631) extending to the through hole (621) of the housing (62) and two arms (632) respectively extending from two opposed sides thereof to abut a bottom side face of the housing (62). When the locking mechanism of the present invention is assembled, the housing (62) is securely mounted on an outer side face of the front side face of the body of the receptacle (1) after the resilient member (63) is received inside the housing (62) with the two arms (632) respectively abutted by the two stops (622) and the finger (631) extending into the through hole (621) of the housing (62). Then after the tongue (61) is securely mounted on an outer side face of the cover (11), the ledge (611) is able to be inserted into the through hole (621). After the ledge (611) is inserted into the through hole (621), the finger (631) is first pushed away from the through hole (621) and further into the housing (62). However, after the locking hole (612) is in alignment with the through hole (621), because there is nothing forcing the finger (631) away from the through hole (621), the finger (631) is moved back into the through hole (621) by the recovery force from the two arms (632) such that the finger (631) is able to extend into the locking hole (612) of the tongue (61) so as to secure the enclosure by the cover (11) of the opening (10) of the receptacle (1) of the present invention.

From the above description, it is noted that the file folder of the present invention is able to store documents in an orderly manner due to the confinement of the receptacle (1) that is made of reinforced plastic. Also with the assistance of the identifier (35) on top of each of the secondary envelopes (3) and the first envelope (2), after the final envelope (4), the secondary envelopes (3) and the first envelope (1) are sequentially pulled out of the receptacle (1), the user is able to clearly see and locate the document. Whenever any of the secondary envelopes (3) or the first envelope (2) is damaged, the user is able to easily replace the damaged secondary envelope (3) by pulling the flap (31) out of the opening (30) from the previous secondary envelope (3). Still further, because the first envelope (2) is securely attached to the bottom face of the receptacle (1) and the final envelope (4) is securely attached yet movable relative to a rear side face of the receptacle (1), the file folder of the present invention is handy for displaying all the documents contained inside the receptacle (1).

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A file folder comprising: a reinforced receptacle having a cover to selectively close an opening of the receptacle; a locking mechanism mounted on the receptacle to secure engagement between the cover and a body of the receptacle; a first envelope having a bottom face securely connected to a bottom face defining the opening of the receptacle so that the first envelope is immovable relative to the reinforced receptacle; multiple secondary envelopes sequentially correlated to one another and to the first envelope, the secondary envelopes being movably received inside the receptacle; and a reinforced board slidably received inside the receptacle and being securely engaged with a rearmost secondary envelope such that movement of the reinforced board is able to sequentially pull out the secondary envelopes of the receptacle.
 2. The file folder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first envelope further has a fixture formed by stamping on the first flap and each secondary envelope has a second fixture formed by stamping on the second flap and a slit defined through the front side face of the secondary envelope to be sandwiched between the two tongues, wherein the first fixture is received in the slit of the front most secondary envelope and the second fixture of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the slit of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope.
 3. The file folder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first envelope has a first identifier extending from a top face defining the first opening and each secondary envelope has a second identifier extending from a top face defining the second opening so as to facilitate identification of documents contained in each of the secondary envelopes as well as in the first envelope.
 4. The file folder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first envelope has a first identifier extending from a top face defining the first opening and each secondary envelope has a second identifier extending from a top face defining the second opening so as to facilitate identification of information contained in each of the secondary envelopes as well as in the first envelope.
 5. The file folder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism has a tongue mounted on the cover of the receptacle and having a ledge extending from the tongue and provided with a locking hole, a housing mounted on a front side face of the receptacle and having a through hole and a resilient member movably received in the housing and having a finger such that the finger is able to extend into the through hole of the housing and the locking hole of the ledge to secure the engagement between the cover and the body of the receptacle after the locking hole is in alignment with the through hole.
 6. The file folder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the locking mechanism has a tongue mounted on the cover of the receptacle and having a ledge extending from the tongue and provided with a locking hole, a housing mounted on a front side face of the receptacle and having a through hole and a resilient member movably received in the housing and having a finger such that the finger is able to extend into the through hole of the housing and the locking hole of the ledge to secure the engagement between the cover and the body of the receptacle after the locking hole is in alignment with the through hole.
 7. The file folder as claimed in claim 3, wherein the locking mechanism has a tongue mounted on the cover of the receptacle and having a ledge extending from the tongue and provided with a locking hole, a housing mounted on a front side face of the receptacle and having a through hole and a resilient member movably received in the housing and having a finger such that the finger is able to extend into the through hole of the housing and the locking hole of the ledge to secure the engagement between the cover and the body of the receptacle after the locking hole is in alignment with the through hole.
 8. The file folder as claimed in claim 4, wherein the locking mechanism has a tongue mounted on the cover of the receptacle and having a ledge extending from the tongue and provided with a locking hole, a housing mounted on a front side face of the receptacle and having a through hole and a resilient member movably received in the housing and having a finger such that the finger is able to extend into the through hole of the housing and the locking hole of the ledge to secure the engagement between the cover and the body of the receptacle after the locking hole is in alignment with the through hole.
 9. The file folder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the firs envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 10. The file folder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 11. The file folder as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 12. The file folder as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 13. The file folder as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 14. The file folder as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 15. The file folder as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other.
 16. The file folder as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first envelope has a first opening, a first flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the first envelope, and a first slit and hole combination defined in a rear side face of the first envelope, each of the second envelopes has a second opening, a second flap foldably extending from a rear side face of the secondary envelope and having a second fixture formed by stamping, two tongues stamped out of a front side face of the secondary envelope, a slit defined between the two tongues and a second slit and hole combination defined side by side in a rear side face of the secondary envelope, wherein the first flap is received in the second opening of a front most secondary envelope and the second flap of two adjacent secondary envelopes is received in the second opening of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope, the tongues of the front most secondary envelope are received in the first slit and hole combination of the first envelope and the tongues of two adjacent secondary envelopes are received in the second slit and hole combination of the secondary envelope in the rear relative to the first envelope so that the first envelope and the secondary envelopes are interconnected to each other. 